1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to album pages useful for the display of planar objects, and more particular, in the illustrated embodiments, to the display of photographs. In its most preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to an album page which may be used to display similarly sized objects, e.g. photographs, in either a vertical or a horizontal position, and when displayed horizontally, the page supports the photograph on both sides of its bottom edge to prevent skewing of the photograph.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wide variety of pages or sheets used to support and display planar objects are known in the art. Such objects may be stamps, letters, art works, photographs, recipes or any of a wide variety of other objects. The size of the objects can also vary widely, so that the number of objects to be displayed per page or sheet can range from a single object to a large number of objects. Moreover, certain prior art album pages or display sheets have been designed for the display of different size objects on the same sheet and for various orientations thereof, and in some cases the display of a plurality of similarly sized objects in different orientations. Several examples of prior art pages and sheets will be described to provide the reader with additional background.
A stamp display page is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,649 issued Nov. 2, 1982, to Diamond, et al. for "Page Construction for a Stamp Album". It shows on its cover sheet a prior art page displaying three smaller stamps and one larger stamp and an alternative page showing spaces for four stamps. Cutouts and plastic strips are used in the page construction.
Another album page product is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,421,503 issued Jun. 3, 1947 to Hermon for "Visible Card, Photograph, and other Filing Sheets." Here a central opaque sheet is bounded on both sides by transparent sheets, which are cemented along the edges and in parallel, horizontal lines. Slits are provided to form pockets and channels are impressed into the sheets. The transparent material, slits and channels create pockets for receiving photographs and the slits on one side of the opaque sheet are aligned with the channels on the opposite side.
A display page for photographs, which includes space for memorandum descriptions, is shown in Beese French Patent No. 332,929 issued in 1903. Openings and slots are provided for display of pictures on either side of the sheet, and where two or more photographs are potentially able to contact one another in an album, an intermediate flyleaf is included. This patent, and a non-official translation thereof, are provided with the present application.
Another patent showing a page having room for the display of one or more photographs and accompanying data is shown in British Patent Specification No. 11,790 issued in 1894, a portion of which specification is supplied with this application. Such portion was obtained from the U.S. Patent Office prosecution history of the Ruebens patent discussed later herein.
A British Provisional Specification No. 29,275 dated in 1897, obtained from the same source described in the preceding paragraph, shows the use of a plurality of transparent strips, partially attached to an album page or sheet, to cover the objects to be displayed and to protect them.
A German Patent 534,428 issued in 1930, again obtained from the same source as the preceding foreign patents, shows a page having a first area for the display of a photograph and a second area in which descriptive matter may be provided.
Additional disclosures can be found in more recent U.S. patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,393 issued Aug. 3, 1971 to Lithgow, et al. and entitled "Device for the Housing and Storage of Microfilm" contains a rather specific disclosure of the use of two clear sheets, spot welded (or adhered) at spaced apart locations about the perimeter of the two superimposed sheets and at spaced apart internal locations, so that all of the welded spots are located in both a horizontal row and a vertical row. In use of the device, the microfilm strips can be inserted horizontally or vertically for display. One sheet may be larger than the other to provide an area for attaching the display to a file, or one sheet may be double the size of the other to fold thereover, creating a file.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,591 issued Mar. 28, 1972 to Woodyard for "Photo Album Page" describes a page which is opaque and which includes a series of clear strips adhered thereto along their bottom edges, their inner edges and at a plurality of locations along their top edges. Photographs may be inserted into the open ends of the resulting sleeves or between spaces in the top edges of the strips.
Yet a further prior art example is the "Card Negative Holder and Method of Manufacture" shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,228 issued Sept. 30, 1983 to Muscoplat. In this device, which can be a book page, pressure-sensitive stock is used to hold negatives on a flat member, slits being provided for the insertion of negatives or the like. The flat member has a window through with the negative may be viewed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,762, issued Jan. 13, 1981 to Holson and entitled "Heat Sealed Photo Album Page and Method of Making Same", and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, uses a fibrous, centrally disposed sheet and a pair of overlying clear synthetic resinous sheets. Pockets are formed by ultrasonic sealing of the clear sheets together through the fibrous sheet which disintegrates under the generated heat of sealing. Pockets are formed during a continuous sealing operation at the same time the page is laminated. The pockets are formed by sealing in broken lines, whereby the fibrous sheet retains structural integrity in some areas.
Another patent owned by the assignee of the present invention was issued on Apr. 12, 1994 to Hoffmeister. This U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,445 entitled "Album Page for Bi-Directional Insertion and Centering of Rectangular Images" includes a backing sheet and at least one pocket comprising a transparent sheet. The pocket is defined by attaching the backing sheet and the transparent sheet along the bottom and two opposed side edges and including two bracket seals, which extend upwardly from the bottom edge to retain an image in a fixed and centered position. The brackets are selected in height to permit either the vertical or horizontal display of similarly sized photographs which, in either case, are inserted from the top.
Two further prior art systems include the Wihlke U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,973 issued May 15, 1984 for "Album Leaf with Pockets for Insertion of Photographic Paper Prints and Similar Articles" and Ruebens U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,948 issued Oct. 30, 1990 for "Bi-Directional Album with Memo Area". In the former, a transparent sheet is welded to an opaque sheet along the edges and at various other horizontal and vertical locations to form pockets adapted to receive photographs. In one or more of the pockets, a single weld line extends from an edge by an amount which limits the orientation of a photograph to either a standing vertical orientation or a horizontally oriented position.
The Ruebens patent takes a somewhat different approach in providing a rectangular, opaque sheet which is bounded on both sides with transparent sheets narrower than the opaque sheet. The transparent sheets are each glued around the top, bottom and one side edge, corresponding to the outer vertical edge of the opaque sheet. This leaves the inner edge of each transparent sheet open along its entire length for the insertion of photographs. The patent also discloses the use of at least two, spaced-apart attachment lines extending from the outer, glued edge toward the inner non-attached edge, the distance being selected to permit horizontal insertion of pictures (i.e., between an upper or lower glue edge and one of the attachment lines or between a pair of the attachment lines) or the vertical insertion of one or more pictures (depending on the height of the page and the picture size) in such a manner that they lie entirely between the innermost ends of the attachment lines and the unattached edge of the transparent sheet.
Several drawbacks still exist with these various prior art album pages, some having to do with manufacturing, and some having to do with the finished article itself. One improvement over a number of such prior art systems has been practiced by the assignee of the present invention, namely the use of film-to-film sealing rather than the use of glue to adhere transparent sheets to the substrates. This has been accomplished by cutting out (for example using a die cutter) certain portions of the substrate and heat or sonic welding two transparent layers to one another at the location of the cut-outs. Not only is there a savings in adhesive purchases, the resulting film-to-film bond is stronger than the bond typically created between a film layer and a substrate using a liquid adhesive. The present assignees' prior device also permitted the use of a creased, cylindrical sleeve of clear plastic provided over the opaque sheet, eliminating high speed manufacturing problems with sheet alignment. Further, in a recent version of such sheet, horizontal, elongate cut-outs have been provided to permit the insertion of photographs along the left edge of a page in either horizontal or vertical alignments. Moreover, a small, cut-out at the center of the sheet provides additional stability when two photographs are inserted for display in a vertical orientation.
The elimination of the drawbacks of the prior art in an inexpensive, easy-to-assemble and aesthetically pleasing album page would represent a significant advance in this crowded and competitive field.